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Billy Joe Saunders vs Marcelo Esteban Coceres Odds & Picks

Can Saunders get it done and impress stateside in his inaugural title defense?

Will Coceres put a beating on the defending champion and usurp the throne?

Saunders vs Coceres headlines a night of prizefighting that is set to go at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This bout will broadcast on DAZN in America and Sky Sports Box Office in the UK. The WBO world super-middleweight title is on the line when these two step inside the ring. Saunders is aiming to make the first defense of his 168 lb belt. Coceres is riding a 27 fight win streak into his title-challenging effort. The odds for this fight and my analysis of the bout can be found below.

Both men have 28 victories and zero defeats. One man will leave with his record intact and the other will have the first blemish on their pro record. Though much is being made of the novelty main event fight between YouTube stars, this fight is very much a legitimate high-level boxing bout with Saunders vs Coceres.

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Some have criticized Saunders for being on the undercard portion of an event like this but he's looking to expose completely new fans to his skills. This is a move to get known on a pop culture level where fans of KSI and Logan Paul will ideally come out of it talking about Billy Joe Saunders. Saunders is getting a big showcase stateside and this is his chance to shine but Coceres could potentially halt that. I just don't predict that happening.

Saunders Retains in Dominant Fashion

Coceres does have an impressive record and both pugilists have a commensurate amount of wins. With a scanning of both of their records though, It's clear who has faced the superior opposition. For Coceres, this is his pro boxing debut fighting in America and his first foray into taking on a world title-level fighter. He will look to derail the momentum of an accomplished, multi-division world champion in Saunders.

In case you missed it last night, Billy Joe Saunders became a two-weight world champion with a dominant performance vs Shefat Isufi 👊pic.twitter.com/UaRgUzKYy0

— BT Sport (@btsport) May 19, 2019

Coceres has collected some hardware on the Latino circuit but this is a huge step up for him. Saunders is clearly positioned as the star on both an athletic merit level but also in a box office potential kind of sense. He recently signed with Matchroom and is ranked favorably in several weight classes as was mentioned prior.

With the promotional backing power and being ranked at 160lbs as well as 168lbs, there are plenty of options potentially there for Sauders after this. Billy Joe Saunders has indicated a strong interest in fighting names like Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin for the new year. But if he gets careless and Coceres capitalizes, that could all go up in smoke.

Saunders vs Coceres Tale of the Tape

Saunders

VS

Coceres

28-0

Record

28-0-1

13

Knockouts

15

5'11

Height

5'9

70.9″

Reach

N/A

Willie Monroe Jr,
Chris Eubank Jr,
David Lemieux

Significant Wins

Cristian Rodrigo Zarate,
Sebastian Andres Lujan,
Cesar Humberto Velez

southpaw

Stance

orthodox

A puncher's chance always exists in the sweet science. It just gets difficult to see that outcome considering Coceres has a KO rate only slightly above 50-percent. Conversely, the knockout rate of Saunders is sub-50 percent. So in all likelihood, I can't see this bout being halted by either fighter. I see Saunders running away with this fight and winning a lopsided unanimous decision.